Koppers Plain Talk explores the science of Gainesville’s Superfund Site, shedding light on the health effects of its toxins.

EPA’s 2009 chart documenting the health effects of Koppers contaminants of concern is particularly informative- and alarming. To view this document, go to koppersplaintalk.com, choose The Science tab and scroll to the bottom. Check out the rest of this educational site.

Koppers Health Warnings

In August 2009, ATSDR and the Florida Department of Health began issuing an ongoing series of health warnings to residents of Stephen Foster Neighborhood including:

*Residents should wash hands after contact with soil and water.
*Parents should keep children from playing in contaminated soils.
*Residents should mow lawns only when it is not dry and dusty, and should avoid exposure to dust from mowing.
*Residents should keep chickens used for homegrown eggs in elevated coops because dioxin contamination was found in eggs from neighborhood free-range chickens.
*Eating homegrown vegetables such as zucchini could cause thyroid changes and fertility problems, and increase cancer risk. There are many unknowns in assessing the real health risk.

“In a million years, I wouldn’t live there with my kids.” –City Commissioner Todd Chase on Koppers contamination in Stephen Foster Neighborhood

Koppers Disclosure Required by Law

Florida Statutes require the presence of Koppers and its contamination to be fully disclosed to homebuyers and renters in our neighborhood.

Recent homebuyers and renters are reporting that they received no disclosure of Koppers Superfund and its contamination. Some report receiving incomplete or misleading information about the Site and its health hazards.

Non-disclosed or improperly disclosed homeowners and renters have three years from the date they first learn of the contamination to take legal action, and some recent homebuyers are currently filing non-disclosure lawsuits. Renters who went before the City Commission about their non-disclosure have been let out of their leases by their landlords.

Homes More Contaminated Inside than Out

Over 100 local homes were independently tested for Dioxin, Arsenic and PAH’s. The results are alarming: the inside of tested Stephen Foster Neighborhood homes average 400 to over 1,100 times more contamination than the toxic soil that EPA/Beazer East is removing from yards.

“We have a very serious problem here that one foot of soil is not going to cure” -timber industry and remediation expert Bob Burton

No Guarantee that Soil Replacement will Work- and No Second Chance

Residents refusing EPA/Beazer East’s one foot soil replacement are doing so because soil replacement did not work here in the past: two to sixty feet of toxic soil were removed and replaced with new soil. When the new soil was tested three years later, it had become just as contaminated as the original soil.

EPA/Beazer East will not guarantee that the soil replacement will work- and they have stated that they will not test the new soil later. If the new soil becomes contaminated -as has happened every time in the past -residents who had the soil replacement will be left with toxic soil and toxic homes with no entity legally bound to help them out.

However, Beazer East’s Mitchell Brourman stated at the soil remediation meeting in May that residents can back out of the soil replacement contract anytime before soil removal is performed on their property.

“We’re not coming back.” -Mitchell Brourman to City Commission: Beazer East is done in Stephen Foster Neighborhood after twelve inch soil removal- even if it fails.

Residents’ Relocation Efforts Unaffected by Koppers Consent Decree

There are many precedents for relocation in Superfund Communities like Stephen Foster Neighborhood. Beazer East can choose to be a good neighbor in reality and introduce an option to help families move out of Koppers contaminated homes.

Superfund Communities who have achieved relocation for their families advise Stephen Foster Neighborhood residents that their relocations were achieved after federal consent decrees were signed. They stress the importance of continuing to demand relocation out of Dioxin-Arsenic-PAH contaminated homes.

Gainesville City Commissioner Hinson-Rawls wants residents made whole and told Beazer East to “Just purchase the homes”

Resident Farinda O’Steen: “I’m up to 20 in my family that have died over that (Koppers) plant and I want out of the neighborhood”

Resident Alice Alonso wants to know why Beazer East/Koppers executives like Mitchell Brourman haven’t been jailed. Mayor Braddy agrees that Mrs. Alonso would be arrested for terrorism if she purchased their deadly chemical cocktail that’s killing her family and neighbors.

Industry Expert Bob Burton tells Commission, “We have a very serious problem here that one foot of soil is not going to cure”

Superfund Communities across the US who achieved relocation for their families continue to advise Gainesville Koppers Victims and Refugees that relocation was achieved well after consent decrees were signed. They further stress that this is the time to begin really advocating loudly for our families’ relocation out of dioxin-arsenic-pah deathtrap contaminated homes.

Beazer East is certainly not a good neighbor- in fact, there are numerous instances where infamous Dow Chemical is a far better neighbor and citizen than Beazer East.

In July 2012, DOW Chemical offered to purchase 50 dioxin contaminated homes in Midland, Michigan to enable families near the Tittabawassee River Superfund Site to move out of harm’s way. Residents and government agencies did not initiate these offers- Dow undertook this humanitarian action on its own.

Contrast this with Beazer East’s cold-blooded treatment of residents in Gainesville’s Superfund Community: not only has Beazer East failed to reach out to families who need to evacuate their dangerously contaminated homes- residents, many with catastrophic illnesses known to result from chemical exposure, who contact Beazer East with buyout negotiation requests have been uniformly turned down by Beazer East representatives.

Dow Chemical also bought out homes on contaminated land near their Morrisonville, Louisiana plant in order to create a safety zone. Louisiana environmental officials noted that industrial facilities and residences do not mix. Likewise, superfund sites and residences do not mix. Dow executives said buyouts were a sensible approach to moving people out of harm’s way, and good citizenship.

Just this summer, chemical corporation Sasol North America announced plans to introduce a Voluntary Property Purchase Program in Mossville, Louisiana. Mossville residents have been fighting for relocation since at least the 1990’s, so this is huge news for this community whose health and property values have suffered for decades and yet was denied Superfund designation by EPA 2011.

There are many more precedents for relocation buyouts in contaminated communities, including Superfund Communities. Beazer East can choose to be a good neighbor in reality and introduce a buyout option so help their victims get their families out of toxic homes instead of perpetuating the collusion and coverup that will keep harming Gainesville families. In the meantime, Koppers Victims and Refugees will advocate ever more loudly for relocation out of dioxin-arsenic-pah contaminated deathtrap homes…

Koppers-afflicted residents thank everyone who came out and demonstrated against Wells Fargo’s toxic criminal activities on July 19th. Friday’s rally, the first of a series, was wet, wild, and really loud! Details of upcoming rallies will be posted here, so keep visiting for more opportunities to raise your voice for environmental justice!

* Wells Fargo systematic discrimination: The U.S. Dept. of Justice has come to a $175 million settlement with WF for pushing minority loan applicants into risky, high-cost subprime loans regardless of qualifications.

* Wells Fargo debit card and payday lending scandals.*Wells Fargo predatory practices that kill homeowners like the typo victim, who died in court after WF wrongfully continued foreclosure proceedings after acknowledging that the homeowner had mistakenly received foreclosure papers due to a WF typo, had never missed a payment, and was not the intended party.

*Wells Fargo bailout funds and programs that put taxpayers on the hook for up to $36.9 billion plus an unknown amount from the Federal Reserve’s $8 trillion in emergency programs.*Wells Fargo discriminatory neglect: WF has been ordered to pay $38.5 million to advocacy groups and regulators due to the bank’s neglect of foreclosure properties in minority areas.* Wells Fargo ongoing illegal foreclosures on US service members.

* Wells Fargo thuggery: A breast cancer patient who never even had a WF mortgage was evicted at gunpoint by WF employees and the sheriff, despite the fact that a California court had placed a stay on the eviction which was posted on her front door.

The best way to end this predatory practice is to walk away from WF and conduct our business through local credit unions.

Let’s Send Wells Fargo a Clear Message:Greed and Prejudice are Unacceptable- Especially at the Cost of Our Families’ Health and Safety!!!

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